Mining machine



Sept. 1l, 1923.

G. w. STARR ET AL4 MINING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q-VenoJ/'s [M m Axl-MLU., AQ. 727m; M* v Filed Nov. 50

Nav@

ATTORNEYS,

G. W. STARR ET AL Sept. l1, 1923.

MINING MACHINE Filed Nov` 30. 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 A TTORNEY` Sept. 11, 1923.

G. W. STARR ET AL MINING MACHINE Filed NQv. 30, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 W Mfr/4M, o. Pays@ A TTORNEl/.S` v

Sept. 11, 1923.

G. W. STARR ET AL v MINING MACHINE l Filed Nov. 30, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. ll, 1923.

G. W STARR ET AL MINING MACHINE Filed Nov. 30. 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 TWK.

INVENTORS /f frz ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 11, 1923.

UNITED STATES 1,467,515 Parleurl oFFicE.

GEORGE WwSTARR AND WILLIAM D. PAYNTER, 0F GRASS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.

MINING MACHINE.

I Application led November 30, 1921. Serial No. 518,789.

fornia, have invented certain new and useful- Improvements in Mining Machines, of

which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to mining machines,

and more particularly to machines for driving drifts or tunnels through subterranean rock formations.

The object of our invention is to provide a machine capable of driving a drift ort-unnel through solid rock, by the Process of chipping away the surface of the head of the drift. This not only obviates the necessity for blasting, with the consequent undesirable shattering of the surrounding rock, but also removes the rock in fragments of such size that it can be ea-sily sluiced out. Moreover, where the drift runs through a vein of ore, the small size of the fragments `enables the ore to be'run through the stamps at a minimum cost and better adapts it for treatment.

A further object of our invention is to provide, in a machine of the described type, means for automatically regulating its operation in such a manner that the face of the drift or tunnel will be worked out evenly over its entire surface, and will therefore remain fiat and not become either convex or concave.

The preferred embodiment of our invention, as herein described and illustrated, is a machine particularly adapted for u-se in the mining of gold, where underground drifts or tunnels are driven through lthe ore vein, but the machine may also be used, with equal success, for driving any drift or tunnel through rock formations. Moreover, although our machine is herein described and illustrated in its preferred form,

it is to be understood that changes, within the scope of the claims hereto appended, may be made in thev form and construction of the machine, without affecting the essential features of theinvention or departing in any degree from the spirit thereof.

Broadly speaking, our machine comprises y a working head, adapted to carry a battery of percussion chipping machines, and

'mounted upon a truck or carriage in such a manner that `it can be fed into the working face atthe endvof the drift. `The head rotates continuously, and at the same time the vpercussion machines carried thereby arc continuously moved toward and away from the center of the head, so that every portion of the surface of the working .face is traversed bythe cutting bits of said machines. Moreover, in order to insure the chipping of the working facey to an even depth over -its'entire surface, i. e. so that it will remain flat, and not become either convex or concave, the rotative speed of the head is accelerated as the percussion machines, in their radial travel, approach the central regions of said face, and is retarded as said machines approach the peripheral regions thereof. This variation in the rota-V tiveV speed of the head causes the chipping bits to traverse the central region ofthe working face more rapidly, but gives them more time to operate upon the peripheral regions, where the area to be worked is comparatively greater.

`Our invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein-j Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of our complete mining machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, the pecussion chipping machines being omitte Fig. 3 is a front elevation, the percussion chipping machines being removed.A

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation, with the cutting i -rection of the arrows on the line 8 8 of Fig. l, showing a portion of the feed mechanism.

Fig. 9 is a plan view, partly in section, of the cross-feed Areversing mechanism. y

Fig. l0 is a sectiontaken in the direction of the arrows on the line 10'-10 of Figf9. Y

Fig. 11 is a transverse section of one' of the arms of the cutting head, and is taken in the direction of th'earrQWSdon-lthe line A Fig. 12 is an end elevation of thesame showing the slide removed from its guide.

Fig. 13 is a longitudinal section, enlarged, of the reverse control valve, taken in the Adirection of the arrows, on the line 13-13 of F ig. 14.

Fig. 14 is a transverse section of the same, taken in the direction of the arrows on the line 14-14 of Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is va diagram of the power transmitting connections, both fluid and mechanical, of the entire machine.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 15 designates a truck or carriage upon which the entire machine is mounted. Said truck is carried upon axles 16, Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5, upon which are journaled flanged wheels 17 adapted yto run upon rails 18 laid upon cross-ties 19 in the usual manner. The truck 15 is provided with longitudinal guides 20, Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, in which is mounted, for sliding movement, the frame 21 ofthe machine. This frame carries the cuttinghead and the percussion chipping machines, in a manner to be presently described, and is moved forward upon the truck 15, to feed said chipping machines into the working face of the drift, by a pair of fluid pressure cylinders 22, Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6, mounted upon said truck. Slidable pistons, not shown in the drawings, within said cylinders, are connected with piston rods 23, Figs. 1 and 2, which are connected with the frame 21 by brackets 24. The cylinders 22 are double-acting, and fluid under pressure, either air or water, is admitted to the front and rear ends of said cylinders, for moving the frame 21 backward or forward, by the respective pipes 25 and 26-Fig. 2.

The frame 21 carries two journal pedestalg 27, Figs. 1 and 2, in which is rotatabljr mounted a lr'nngitudinallyv disposed hollow shaft 28 of comparatively large diameter.

This shaft has a flange 29 at its forward end, to which is secured the cutting-head 30. Said cutting-head has three equally spaced radial branches, as shown in Fig. 3, each having guides 31 in which is mounted a radially movable slide 32. These slides carry most of the percussion chipping machines, which may be of any suitable type, but are here represented, in Fig. 1 of the drawings, as air drills 33 of the usual well known form, carrying and operating chipping bits 34 for chipping the rock from the working face, A ofthe drift; Said percussion machines may be secured to the slides 32 in any convenient manner, not shown in the drawings, said slides being shown as provided -with holes 35, Fig. 3, for this purpose.

The head 30, carried by the shaft 28, revolves, slowly and continuously, during the operation of thel mach-ine, and atthe same time the slides 32 are reciprocated in and out, by mechanism to lbe ldescribed later, in order to carry the chipping bits 34 over every portion of the working face A.

In addition to the percussion machines 33 thus carried by the slides 32, there are others, mounted rigidly upon angularly disposed ears 36 extending laterally from the end portions of the head guides 31. The six percussion machines 33 so mounted are inclined outwardly with respect to the percussion machines 33, so that their chipping bits 34 ywork up to and cut the corner or periphery of the drift, "as shown in Fig. 1. Said ears 36 are shown in Fig. 3 as provided withholes 36" for securing the chipping machines 33 thereto in any desired manner.

The head 30 is provided with flanged and bolted joints 37, Fig. 3, in its arms, so that the outer end portions of said arms may be removed to enable the machine to be passed through restricted places in the drifts or shafts through which it is moved.

As before stated, the chipping machines are fed into the working face A by the' action of the fluid-pressure cylinders 22. In order to limit such feeding, and to prevent said machines from being fed too rapidly, the head 30 carries forwardly projecting arms 38, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, upon whose ends .are mounted rollers 39 adapted to bear against the working face A. The length of said arms 38 is adjustable, as shown at 38 in Figs. 1 and 2, to compensate for the wear nd consequent shortening of the chipping its.

In order to` permit the feeding forward of the frame 21 of the machine, which carries the chipping machines. the truck 15 must be held stationary. This is accomplished by screw acks 40 and 41, Fig. 5, the jacks 40 being placed under said truck, and the jack 41 above. When said jacks are tightened, the truck 15 is firmly held against rearward movement, and they frame 21 can be fed forwardly by the fluid pressure cylinders 22. When the limit of such movement is reached, the jacks 40 Vand 41 are loosened, and a pair of horizontal jacks 42 are tightened against the sides of one of the journal pedestals 27, thus holding the frame 21 stationary. Fluid pressure is then admitted to the forward ends ofthe cylinders 22, thereby moving the truck 15 ahead to a new position.

Returning now to the cutting head 30, the slides 32 are provi-ded with threaded lugs 43, Figs. 1 and 3, projecting from their rear faces, and these lugs are engaged by ro*- tatable; screws 44, so. that the slides 32 are movedv inwardly or outwardly, by thel rotation of said screws The screws 44 carry bevel gears 45v at their inner ends, all of which mesh with a common' bevel gear 46 fixed. upon the end ofza longillljdlll Shaft 47, extending centrally through, and suitably journaled within, the hollow supporting shaft 28. At its rear end, said shaft 47 is provided with a gear 48, Figs. 1,2 and 8, and is driven through a train of gears 49, by the shaft 50 of a reversing mechanism, which is illustrated particularly lin Fig. 9.

The shaft 50 extends into a housing 51, and carries therein a gear 52, which meshes with two oppositely disposed gears 53 and 53, mounted upon shafts 54 and 54', whose rear ends carry co-nical clutch members55 and 55 respectively. Cooperating' clutch cones 56 and 56 are carried upon rotatable and axially slidable shafts 57 and 57 in such/a manner that the clutches comprising the members 55 and 56 and 55 and 56 may be respectively engaged or disengaged by endwise-movement of the shafts 57 and 57. Said shafts 57 and 57 carry inter-meshing gears 58 and 58', within a. housing 59.v The gear 58 is fixed upon its shaft 57, but the gear 58, which is wider than said gear 58.', is slidably secured to its shaft 57 by 'a' key or feather 60.

The shafts 57 and 57 are provided with thrust collars 61 and 61 respectively, which are adapted to be engaged by a bifurcated lever 62, Figs. 9 and 10, fulcrumed at 63 mid-way between said shafts. Thus by moving the free end of said lever 62 for ward, the clutch 55 and 56 is engaged and the clutch 55 and 56 is disengaged, and b-v moving said lever rearwardly the opposite effect is produced. The shaft 57 is extended rearwardly into a housing 64, Figs. 4 and 9, andy is driven, at a reduced speed, by means of worm gearing 65, from atrans verse shaft 66. The latter is driven by a chain 67 and sprockets 68, Figs. 1, 2 and`4, from a'transverse shaft 69, which, in turn, is driven by an electric motor 70 through sp-ur gea-ring 71. The train of power transmitting mechanism above described can be clearly seen in the diagram of Fig. 15.

The transverse shaft 69 carries a conical pulley 72. Figs. 2, 4 and 15, which is connected by a belt 73 with a similar but oppositely disposed pulley 74 mounted on a parallel shaft 75, which is connected with a longitudinal shaft 76 by worm gearing enclosed within a housing 77. The shaft 76 carries a pinion 78, Figs. 1, 2 and 15, at its forward end, which meshes with a gear 79 upon the hollow cutting head supporting shaft 281. The cutting head 30 is thus continuously rotated by the motor 70, but its speed is varied, within `certain limits, by shifting the belt 73 upon its' conical pulleys 72 and 74. This variation in the rotative speed=of the head 30 is controlled automatically by the slide cross feed mechanism, and is so related to the movements of the slides 32, as to cause the head 30 to revolvewith increasingLspeed as said slides approach their inner or morev of the face, where the area is' less, the rotative speed of the-.head is greater than it is when said chipping machines are nearer the peripheral 4regio-ns of. said face, where'the area is greater. This automatic controlof the rotative speed of the head 30l is effected by the v'following mechanism, which is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 8, and diagrammatically inY Fig. 15.

. The gear 48, mounted on the rear end of the centralA cross-feed shaft- 47, meshes with a. gear 80, whichv drives a` transverse shaft 81,-through a short longitudinal shaft'82, and bevel 'gears 83. The shaft 81 is connected by a pair of gears 84, Fig. 8with a rotatable screw 85, which carriesa# belt `shifter 86 forsliding 'the belt 73 along its conical pulleys. The speed ratio of the va'-k rious gears issuch thatsaid belt moves in unison `witli the slides 32.

" The same devices control the cross feed reversing' mechanism described above. 3 The screw shaft 85'is hollow, and is interiorly threaded `to-receive an exteriorly threaded rod 87, Figs. 2, 4,8 and 15, which projects from its end and is caused to move linearly by the rotation of said screw shaft. This 'ro-d 87carries two spaced collars 88, Figs. 8, 13 and15, which are adapted to engage the operating lever 89, Figs. 2, 13 and 15, of a fluid control valve 90, which, in turn, controls the admission of fluid under pressure 4to a working cylinder 91, Figs. 2, 9 and 15.

This cylinderv has a piston 92, Fig. 9, co-nnectedv with the reversing lever 62, by a rod 93.

The construction of the control valve 90 is shown in Figs. 13 and'14. The operating lever 89, Fig-.13, is .fulcrumed at 94, andits other end'is connected with a valve rod 95. This rod, which has a sliding movement, operates a piston valve' within a cylinder 96, Fig. 14, to control the admission of fluid, preferably air, under pressure, to a working cylinder 97. 98 and 99 are, respectively,

vthe inlet and exhaust ports of said valve,

andl100 are the ports connecting the valve cylinder 96 with vthe two ends of the work-k ing cylinder 97. Said working cylinder 97 has a piston 101,'Fig. 13, whose rod 102 operates' a Vsecond piston valve within a cylin- `der103 to vcontrol the admission of fluid under pressuref(also preferably air) to the :reversing cylinder 91. 104 is the air inlet,

105 the exhaust, and v106, shown in Figs. 13

vand 15,` are the pipes connecting saidvalve -withthe reversingcylinderf 91.1

The rod 87, operated by they screw -85, moves in unison with the drill carrying slides 32, and, as said slides reach either end of their radial movement, one of the collars 88 upon said rod 87 engages the valve operating lever 89, as shown inFig. 13, thereby shifting the valve rod 95. This reverses the air pressure in the working cylinder 97,- and shifts the valve 102, which, in turn, reverses the air pressurein the cylinder 91, whose piston 92, Fig. 9, and rod 93 shift the reverse lever 62, thereby reversing the direction of ro-tation of the shaft 50, and consequently reversing the movement of the slides 32. Thus said slides are continuously and automatically moved in and out, radially, in the head 30, while said head itself is continuously revo-lved at a constantly varying speed, such speed being greater when the slides 32 are near the center, and less when they are nearer the outside, of the working face A. Thisvariation in the rotative speed of the head 30 causes the chipping machines to traverse approximately equal areas of the working face in equal times, thereby chipping out said face to an even depth over its entire area. In the machine as shown in the accompanying drawings the head 30 revolves about three and one-half times faster when the slides 32 are at the inner limits of their radial travel than when said slides are at their outer limits.

Fluid (preferably air) under pressure is supplied to the percussion machines 33 and 33 through flexible connections 107, Fig. 1, leading from a manifold 108, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, carried 4by the head 30. Said manifold is supplied by a pipe 109, Fig. 1, running longitudinally inside t-he hollow shaft 28, and terminating, as shown in Figs. 1, 6 and 7,- in an orifice 110 formed in a flanged ring 111, Figs. 6 and 7, secured exteriorly upon said shaft 28. This flanged ring', which rotates with said shaft 28, is encircled by a stationary channeled ring 112, formed in two halves, as shown in' Fig. 7, held together by bolts 113, and provided with adjustable p'acking rings 114i,` the joint between said stationary ring 112 and the rotatable ring 111 being made tight by means of suitable packing 115. The stationary ring 112 is lsecured to the frame 21 b`y coacting lugs 116, bolted together as shown in Fig. 6. The channel of the stationary ring 11-2 forms; an annular chamber, to which air is supplied through an exterior connection 117,4 and from which it is supplied to the manifold 108 by the vinterior pipe 109.

f 'A similarly constructed fluid connection 118, Figs. 1, 2 and 15,- is provided upon the sha-ft 28, by means of which water may be supplied to' the head 30 for sluicing outV the chipped rock. The'f various pipes for conducting the sluiciing water from said connection 118 are not-shown except diagr'ammatically at 119 in Fig. 15, it being understood that any suitablearrangement of conduits may be made for directing the water against the working face.

We claim 1. A mining machine comprising a rotatableV working head; a plurality of independent sets of cutting tools mounted upon the face lof the head for movement in independent radial paths; means for operating said tools; and means for carrying each of said sets of tools towards and away from the axis of said headduring its rotation.

2. A mining machine comprising a rotaf table working head; cutting tools carried thereby g, means Vfor continuously moving said tools back and forth across the face of said head, toward and away from the axis thereof; and means for rotating said head at a constantly varying speed.

3. `A mining machine comprising a rotatable working head; cutting tools carried thereby; means for continuously moving said tools back and forth across the face of said head, toward and away from the axis thereof; and means for rotating said head at a constantly varying speed, such speed increasing as said tools approach the axis of said head, and decreasing as they move away therefrom.

4. A mining machine comprising a rotatable working head: cutting tools carried by said head; means for moving said tools back and forth across the face of said head, toward and away from the axis thereof; and automatic means for increasing the rotative speed of said head as said tools approach the axis and decreasing it as they move away therefrom.

5. A mining machine comprising a. rotatable working head; cutting tools carried by said head; means for moving said tools back and forth across the face of said head, toward and away from the axis thereof; and means actuated by said tool-moving m-eans for varying the rotative speed of said head.

6. A mining machine comprising a rotatable working head: cutting tools carried by said head; means for moving said tools back and forth across the face of said head, toward and away from the axis thereof; and means actuated by said tool-moving means for increasing the' rotative speed of said head as said tools approach the axis and decreasing it as they move away therefrom. Y 7. AA mining machine comprising a rotatable working head; cutting tools carried thereby; means4 for simultaneously rotating said head and moving said tools back and forthA across-the face thereof; and means control-ledV by the linear movement of said tolsfor' automatically varying the rotative speed of said head.

' 8. Amining machine comprising `a rotatable working head g1 cutting tools movably mounteci` ved up'on the face of the head; other cutting the tools aoross the face of the head; and tools fixed to the head at the border thereof; means for simultaneously driving said head and means for carrying the movable tools shaft at Constantly varying rotative speed across the face of the head during its roas described and operating said power- 5 tation. transmitting connections. 15

9. A mining machine comprising a Work- In testimony whereof We have signed our ing head; a rotatable shaft carrying said names to this specification. head; cutting tools movably mounted upon the head; power-transmitting connections GEORGE W. STARR.

10 carried through the head shaft for moving WILLIAM D. PAYNTER, 

